On May 25, 2018, the European Union’s (EU) General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) officially went into effect. The regulation is widely considered the most comprehensive data privacy regulation in the world. SSPC began preparations for GDPR compliance in 2017 and has enacted several changes to strengthen policies and procedures used in collecting and managing member and customer information.
In the lead up to May 25, anybody with any kind of account on the internet was inundated with emails regarding updated privacy policies. That’s because one of the key tenets of GDPR is that organizations need to prove that they are taking steps to safeguard and secure user data. SSPC is no different. You can read our updated Privacy Policy on our website.
Whether you are a member or customer of SSPC, we are committed to protecting your data and ensuring that it is used in ways that you explicitly agree to. You are in control of choosing which communications you receive from us and whether or not your data can be shared. We encourage you to read the Privacy Policy for full details on the changes that we have and will be introducing.
In addition to the Privacy Policy update, we also better defined how you can opt-in or opt-out of receiving email from SSPC. This was done by updating the Privacy Preferences page in your SSPC.org account to give users easier access to the Global Opt-In/Opt-Out function, as well as granular control of specific types of information you’d like to receive electronically from SSPC. For existing users who have not explicitly confirmed their opt-in/opt-out status, we’ve enacted a workflow that will send an email reminder every quarter to ask you to confirm your status. Our goal is to have an email list that is 100 percent opt-in so that we can ensure that all users, regardless if they are in the EU or not, are only receiving the information they wish to receive. You can edit your Privacy Preferences at any time by logging into your SSPC account and going to Settings --> Privacy Preferences.
Finally, we also improved how data is collected from new users by adding specific language and check boxes to all request forms indicating what will happen with your data when it’s submitted to SSPC, and giving you the option to opt-in/opt-out to receiving information right at the start of your engagement with SSPC. This process also includes a double opt-in procedure where new users will be asked to confirm their opt-in/opt-out request within 24 hours of submitting the form.
Your privacy is something that we take seriously at SSPC and we will continue to improve how we handle and secure your data as the world of information becomes more complex.